Legi fonetice · Legea 24 · Terminații
Plurals: -s or -i
-ŌS, -ĀS, -ĒS (acc.); -Ī, -AE (nom.)
Deocamdată, explicațiile de aici sunt în engleză; exemplele sunt în toate limbile.
Spaniolă
-s, -es (from the accusative)
Franceză
-s, -x (written, mostly silent; from the accusative)
Italiană
-i, -e (from the nominative)
Portugheză
-s, -es (from the accusative)
Română
-i, -e (like Italian); -uri for many neuters
Catalană
-s, -es (from the accusative)
Ce s-a întâmplat
Western Romance (Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French) built its plurals on the Latin accusative, keeping its -s: LUPŌS → lobos, llops, loups. Old French still had a two-case system, but modern French kept only the old accusative forms, and its -s fell silent outside liaison. Italian and Romanian lost final -s and built plurals on nominative forms: masculine -i from -Ī (LUPĪ → lupi in both). The source of the feminine -e (nominative -AE or accusative -AS), of Romanian feminine -i (porți) and of the -i in Italian cani is debated.
Exemple
| Latină | Italiană | Spaniolă | Franceză | Portugheză | Română | Catalană | Rudă în engleză |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUPŌS (acc.) / LUPĪ (nom.)‘wolves’ | lupi | lobos | loups | lobos | lupi | llops | |
| AMĪCŌS (acc.) / AMĪCĪ (nom.)‘friends’ | amici | amigos | amis | amigos | — | amics | amicable |
| MŪRŌS (acc.) / MŪRĪ (nom.)‘walls’ | muri | muros | murs | muros | — | murs | mural |
| PORTĀS (acc.) / PORTAE (nom.)‘doors, gates’ | porte | puertas | portes | portas | porți | portes | portal |
| OCULŌS (acc.) / OCULĪ (nom.)‘eyes’ | occhi | ojos | yeux | olhos | ochi | ulls | ocular |
Decodor
Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and French plural -s = Italian and Romanian -i (for -o/consonant and -e nouns) or Italian -e (for -a nouns): lobos, llops → lupi; puertas, portes → porte.
Excepții
Italian amici, with a soft c [tʃ], shows the old -Ī: the i palatalized the c, while amico stayed hard; Romanian -i palatalizes too (lup [lup] → lupi [lupʲ], porți with ț). Italian keeps some Latin neuter plurals in -a (uova, braccia, dita), Romanian made a whole neuter class in -uri and -e, and French has irregular plurals shaped by sound change (yeux, chevaux).